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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26753122">Doctober</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rae_Saxon/pseuds/Rae_Saxon'>Rae_Saxon</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Doctor Who</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M, M/M</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 12:28:11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>8,382</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26753122</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rae_Saxon/pseuds/Rae_Saxon</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Just a collection of Thoschei oneshots with the Doctober prompts @sophilestweets gave, because the world always needs more Thoschei!</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Tenth Doctor/The Master (Dhawan), The Doctor/The Master (Doctor Who), Third Doctor/The Master (Delgado), Thirteenth Doctor/The Master (Dhawan), Thirteenth Doctor/The Master (Simm)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>68</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. 1. Worry</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Thirteen/Simm talking about Thirteen/Dhawan, post Timeless Children for her, post The End of Time for him, bit angsty. Features the Doctor being an idiot. And I don't mean the good kind. - ca. 2000 words</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>When the Doctor stepped out of her TARDIS, the Citadel was... well, in lack of a better word – <em>Alive</em>. People were so busy, rushing up and down the little corridor she had parked in, they barely took time to notice her and if they did, then only to complain that she was in the way.</p><p>With a sigh, the Doctor watched after them, shoulders sacked, hands in her coat pockets, trying not to let the ache get to her.</p><p>Here they were, alive, trying to fill the gap in their government that the Time War had left, trying to rebuild themselves and none of them knew what was to come, how their lives were only steering towards an even bigger catastrophe yet to come.</p><p>But that's not why she was here. The one promise she had made herself before setting the coordinates, before going back in time to visit Gallifrey when it had still been healthy, still been... well, alive, was that she wouldn't mess with the timeline, wouldn't, <em>couldn't</em> risk the universe falling apart over her home ever again.</p><p>So here she stood now, all responsibility conveniently off her shoulders, left to worry about the one thing she could not talk herself out of worrying about.</p><p>With a sigh, the Doctor walked off to try and find him, her eternal worry, the one keeping her shoulders heavy and her hearts aching.</p><p> </p><p>She found the Master lying in a bed in the medbay, staring at the ceiling. It wasn't the one she had gotten to know as O, but then again, she hadn't looked for that one. She had picked this specific time for a reason and here this reason lay, eyes dull, face pale, the hair still a bit too light to look healthy, his skin still fizzling from all the energy running through his veins, his worn out old hoodie draped on a chair next to him, as if it was his most valued possession.</p><p>She looked at the red linen pyjamas he was wearing now and sighed, sitting down next to him on the bedside. He didn't even look up, didn't even tell her to leave, didn't even bother to pretend to think she was a stranger.</p><p>“Hey,” the Doctor tried.</p><p>A low grumble was the reply. Acknowledgement, that was a start, she supposed.</p><p>“Thought I'd check in. See how you're doing. Anything you need? I can pack you a bag?”</p><p>She laughed nervously, unsure whether she wanted to disguise her offer as a weak joke yet or not. The Master's eyes moved, finally, towards her, taking in her form.</p><p>“Cute.”</p><p>Well, that was... something to go on from, at least.</p><p>“Yeah, thought I'd go blonde again, thanks.”</p><p>His lips twitched into something that could be a smile once it had grown up.</p><p>“Did I kill you?”</p><p>The Doctor rolled her eyes.</p><p>“A little. I'm a bit in your future, though. Been two bodies since you last saw me.”</p><p>“<span>Good.”</span></p><p>“Sure, you tell yourself that.”</p><p>The words had left her mouth more bitter than she had wanted them to. But truth was, she still couldn't forget it, the colony ship, Missy leaving her there to face her death alone. Technically, she hadn't killed her at all. But it sure felt like she had.</p><p>He finally moved, sitting up on his elbows, his eyes narrowing in pain as he did.</p><p>“You okay?” She managed to bring out the words without the endless anger spilling out of her. Angry, she was always angry in this body. It wasn't that he had gotten crueller, though, without doubt, he had, she had just gotten so much worse at looking past it.</p><p>“Fine,” he grumbled. “They're working on fixing me, but it's taking them a while. Drums got louder over... over their attempts.”</p><p>Her brows furrowed. “Sometimes it's gotta get worse before it gets better.”</p><p>Empty words he didn't even dignify with a response. She supposed that was fair. Fine. A little bit of risking the timelines, then. So what.</p><p>“It <em><span>will</span></em> get better,” she promised. “Seen it myself.” She thought of the Master, of Missy, of O, of the Master, again, standing in the ashes of Gallifrey and sighed. “Well, the drums will, anyway.”</p><p>The Master let a weak smirk appear on his face.</p><p>“Trouble in paradise?”</p><p>She shrugged.</p><p>“You're your usual self, just a bit worse. Tell me, one day, when you have reached the epitome of cruelty, will you still strive for ways to out-best yourself or will you finally, finally stop?”</p><p>Okay. Maybe he'd notice her anger now. Just a little.</p><p>But the Master, so much like him, just laughed at the soreness of her tone.</p><p>“I don't know. Haven't been there yet. Bet the view is nice from the top, though.”</p><p>The Doctor just stared at him.</p><p>“Don't you ever just want to stop?” she asked, suddenly feeling tired.</p><p>The Master attempted a weak little shrug.</p><p>“Maybe? Doctor, what are you doing here, coming to your past, asking me things you don't want the answer to? Truth is, I don't know what I'll want in years from now. I barely know what I'll want tomorrow. I want the noise out of my head, then maybe, maybe I'll manage to think.”</p><p>“No,” she spit. “You won't. You'll be just the same and I don't... I don't understand anymore.”</p><p>He let himself fall back onto the mattress, back to staring at the ceiling.</p><p>“Then I understand even less why you came,” he finally muttered into the quiet, reminding her not to sink into self-pity. That wasn't why she had come.</p><p>“Because I worry about you, stupid.”</p><p>He managed to raise an eyebrow at that, but remained silently.</p><p>“I do,” she added quietly. “I see you fall apart, in your future, and there's nothing I can do or say to get through to you anymore. And I've been thinking, I've been thinking so hard, where I started failing you and I think it's been here. I never came, I never checked on you, I just watched you get sucked into Gallifrey and I...”</p><p>“You always abandon me, Doctor,” he interrupted her coldly. “If that's where you want to start your search, you'll have to go back much, much further.”</p><p>She bit her lips to stop the sound of despair to escape her.</p><p>“Maybe...” she finally felt safe enough to say. “Yeah. But I think it's too late to try and fix... some things, now. I feel like I might still be able to fix this.”</p><p>“Fix me?” he asked, bitterly.</p><p>“What? No. I mean...” Her voice caught, stumbled over itself and finally broke. How did they always end up back here? How was she – he – always thinking of it as having to be fixed? Is that what she did, that's what she had always done to them? Making them think they weren't good enough until it was too much pressure and they just gave up on trying?</p><p>The Doctor looked around the medbay, the pictures she'd seen in the Matrix suddenly on her mind, strapped to a table, experimented on, killed repeatedly in the name of science.</p><p>She looked down on him, barely able to move without moving, the usual sharp and devious eyes still numb. The Time Lord's biggest guinea pig, having carried their macabre experiments inside him like a ticking bomb.</p><p>“You don't have to be fixed,” she gave back to him, firmly. “I'm just here to h...-”</p><p>She stopped herself, knowing these words had not changed his mind once and pinched her eyes shut to think, just for a moment.</p><p>“No, I get it,” the Master spit at her and she tore her eyes open quickly. He was a dangerous man to turn away from and she shouldn't underestimate him just because he was currently in a weakened state.</p><p>Life had finally returned into the Master's eyes, in form of pure anger.</p><p>“You're worried about my future, so here you are, back with your consolation prize, for another round of 'fix the poor crazy Master'.”</p><p>“That's not even...” What was this? A new form of insecurity? The one where you got jealous of <em>yourself</em>?</p><p>“You said it yourself. You didn't care about me back then, didn't care about what they're doing to me here. Stopped caring as soon as the idea of us being the only two left wasn't that romantic anymore, did you? I tell you something, Doctor and you better listen, for once, just for once, really, really well.”</p><p>She got tears in her eyes, a mix of anger and desperation welling up, as she remembered herself screaming at him to just listen. Here they were again and he wanted to tell <em>her</em> what to do?</p><p>“If you want to fix us, go to <em>him</em>,” he hissed. “Go to him and for once, give him the feeling that you care instead of repeating your same mistakes all over again. Then maybe, maybe, we stand a chance.”</p><p>She blinked at that admission.</p><p>“I don't know,” she finally brought out. She knew he was right, of course, but God, she was so scared, so scared of what she'd find. So scared of it being broken forever – <em>Him</em> being broken. “And leave you here on your own.”</p><p>He spread his arms and if it hurt him, he didn't let her see.</p><p>“Here I am, the incarnation no one cares about. The one to be played with until it breaks. The dirty, wild one with its slight cannibalistic tendencies, burning up. Do what you always do, Doctor, do what you do best – Get into your box and fly away. I don't want you here. You're three dancing steps ahead, doing a pirouette and telling me I'll one day learn to dance well enough to do it with you – No thanks.”</p><p>She got up.</p><p>“The offer still stands,” she muttered, forcing herself to look at him. “If you need anything...”</p><p>“Then I'll do what I've done my whole life,” the Master replied bitterly. “Waiting for you to come around when I actually need you.”</p><p>She felt dizzy, her eyes closed as she wrung out, “I'm trying to get this right. I really am, Master.”</p><p>When she opened her eyes again, his has softened a little.</p><p>“Doctor, it's been a thousand years since we've been kids and this has been the first time you've said you're worried about me. You run around the universe, worrying about everything and everyone, and I'm there, in your wake, trying not to choke on the stardust.”</p><p>She grimaced.</p><p>“Stardust?”</p><p>“You know... 'cuz you're all unicorns and...” his eyes wandered down to her shirt. “Rainbows.”</p><p>“You know I'm not. You of all people...”</p><p>“Yeah, I know. Believe me, I do. But I also know that you'd cling to that pretence harder than you'd cling to <em>me</em> at any given opportunity. So let go and tell him something ugly about yourself. Because I promise you, with all the things I know about you, you worrying about me has never been one of them.”</p><p>The Doctor wasn't sure what to say, wasn't sure if her voice could carry her any longer, and so she just nodded and walked to the door. She stood for a moment, looking back down on him, as he lay there, terrible small in that bed, head turning back towards the ceiling.</p><p>I've failed you, she thought. I really, really did.</p><p> </p><p>Back in her TARDIS, she took a moment to breathe. Her hands hovered over the coordinates. She had taken the time to link his TARDIS to hers when she had used it to flee from World War 2 – It could be so easy, to just find him, wherever he had taken his army to and just... talk.</p><p>But the simplicity of the past was that it couldn't be messed up anymore. All she had done today, it had already ruined her future for her, had already caused everything to take place the way it had.</p><p>Finding him now... it could leave shatters over the last hopes holding her together.</p><p>There really wasn't any point, the Doctor thought, in them both being broken, after all.</p><p>And so the Doctor set the coordinates to Earth, England, looking forward to a nice, safe little trip. Maybe she could talk Yaz into a few more trips...</p><p>She'd like to. She'd really, really like to go and tell him all the things she never had. But she was just too worried about it destroying everything that was left of them.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Bright</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The Doctor and the Master from an innocent bystander's perspective, as they fight so hard, they don't notice they're about to crash into the sun. | Three/Delgado , M, ca. 1000 words</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The grey column is hovering through space, looking weirdly out of place, as the sun seems to work on fixing this mistake by sucking it into its orbit. The ship is already dangerously close, continuously heading towards the sun, the only thing keeping it from burning up the exceptionally strong shields guarding it for the time being.</p><p>Two men are inside the ship, in a room that looks far bigger than the exterior would give any reason to assume, oblivious to the danger they are in, because they are busy fighting.</p><p>“Now, my dear Doctor,” one of them says, his goatee twitching in mild amusement. “No need to become quite this unpleasant.”</p><p>The man he is talking to seems to disagree, as he has grabbed him by the lapels of his fine suit, face dangerously close to his. For some unknown reason, he is wearing a cape over his velvet suit, which is currently flapping slightly in the movement.</p><p>“I asked you, more than once, in pleasant tone,” he hisses. “Take me back this instance!”</p><p>“You wished to escape Earth, did you not? I was merely following your...”</p><p>“Following my wishes?” the man, apparently called the Doctor, snorts. “Oho! Don't make me laugh! You only waited for an opportunity to kidnap me!”</p><p>He shoves the man against a complicated looking steering console, where he, on accident, activates a set of buttons and levers in his fall. The column takes a rather inelegant whirl and escapes direct impact with the sun narrowly.</p><p>One has to wonder if this is also how the ship has come into being in the sun's orbit in the first place.</p><p>“You talked about a chance to escape my exile! Naturally, I assumed you were talking about fixing my TARDIS so I could leave on my own terms, not leaving it stranded at UNIT!”</p><p>The other man stands straight up again, fixing his tie with a dismayed expression on his face.</p><p>“What you <em>assume</em>, my dear Doctor, is hardly my fault.”</p><p>“Dear God, man!” the Doctor cries out in accusatory tone. “What do you get out of this anyway, hm? Why kidnap me at all?”</p><p>Through one of the windows, a glare of orange falls into the room, as the sun yet again goes on a chase for its prey, the ship whirling back closer towards its own destruction. The room sparks up in bright red and golden tones.</p><p>None of the men seem to notice.</p><p>One of them sneers.</p><p>“Well, there's the pleasure of your company, for one,” he says, sarcasm apparent in his tone.</p><p>“Oh sorry,” the Doctor spits back. “Not enjoying your kidnapping?”</p><p>“Not particularly, I have to say,” the man replies with a little smirk. “But not to worry. I'm about to.”</p><p>“And there it is!” the Doctor calls out. “The first not-so-subtle threats! Always with the threats! And you wonder why I don't want to be here with you!”</p><p>He seems to have hit a nerve, because now it is his opponent's turn to get angry. With a growl that belies his usually calm demeanour, he throws himself at the Doctor, shoving him against the wall.</p><p>“I'll show you threats!” he gnarls, and the Doctor huffs.</p><p>“Oh yes? And what if I show you first, old chap?”</p><p>He raises his arms and pushes back, making the man fall back against the console with a loud thud. The ship sways threateningly, as yet another sharp twist is being initiated by the man's accidental impact on some levers.</p><p>The shields on the outside of the ship, however, are now glowing brightly, visibly about to melt, as the first heat makes its way into the inside.</p><p>The men, now both sweating, still seem perfectly oblivious, for the Doctor has now thrown himself onto the lying man and seems to be.... Well, he seems to be...</p><p>There is the clacking of teeth, as they angrily clash together, the soft smacking of lips following it, accompanied by the occasional moan and there is, at this point, no way for a confused narrator to get around admitting that the men have moved from physical violence to kissing.</p><p>All their fighting seems forgotten, as they find themselves pressing against the console, furiously tearing at each other's clothes, mouths never leaving one another, as if they needed each other's air to survive. The temperature keeps on rising, but it seems the men are too occupied with their own heated desires to notice, even as the room fills yet again with bright, red light.</p><p>The man lying underneath reaches out, gripping the Doctor's erection, a hungry expression on his face.</p><p>“Say my...” he starts, but his partner (opponent? enemy? lover? a husband maybe?) interrupts him with a snort.</p><p>“Please. Spare me your ludicrous power trips, I'm having no part in it, and just get on with it.”</p><p>Angrily, the man squeezes the erection at hand a little too tight, but the Doctor merely steps closer with a laugh. finishing undressing the both of them.</p><p>Their skin is gleaming red and golden and is soaked in sweat, but when the Doctor lets himself sink down onto his partner's erection, all cares seem to leave their minds, leaving nothing but each other.</p><p>In throws of passion the man lets his arms spread out beside him, hitting a particular lever and with the sound of a seagull laughing, the column is fading in and out of being in the sun's orbit, before it finally disappears all together.</p><p>There is an audible groan heard in space, and if I didn't know any better, if a sun could be sentient, I'd assume it is its, though I'd be unsure if it is one of disappointment or relief.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Purple</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>What, you say? October third was 5 days ago and you're failing Doctober, Rae, as we all knew you would because you can't stick to any schedule whatsoever?<br/>Aw, who cares! :D</p><p>Thirteen/Dhawan with mentions of Missy<br/>mostly fluffy<br/>implied smut, not much tho</p><p>The Doctor needs a dress for a ball and finds Missy's old one in her TARDIS wardrobe. The Master is enthralled.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Balls, the Doctor had once thought, when Smokings had still been something acceptable for her to wear, were something magical.</p><p>When the King of Luxaria had invited her after she and her fam had brought the peace back to the beautiful city of glass, they had all been thrilled to agree and it was all fun and games, until Yaz had timidly reminded her that people probably expected her to wear a dress.</p><p>Well.</p><p>She had always been known to defy people's expectations, of course, but when she had walked into her wardrobe and had seen Missy's old dress hanging there, innocently... Let's just say she couldn't quite resist.</p><p>A big mistake, as it turned out.</p><p>Here she was now, trying to restrict her breathing to fit into the damned corset – Not so magical anymore.</p><p>“I can't believe he used to wear this every day,” she muttered with a look into the mirror.</p><p>It looked gorgeous enough – She was a bit taller than Missy had been, but it still worked, the purple dress falling down around her, her waist slim thanks to the corset.</p><p>But the Doctor could barely breathe, feeling her chest tightening whenever she attempted it and her movement was seriously restricted – She couldn't sit down with the corset on because she could not bend her hips whatsoever. And standing on those bloody shoes wasn't exactly something she was prepared to do all evening...</p><p>Her legs were shaking whenever she attempted to put weight onto those beautiful high-heeled devils.</p><p>If the Master could see her in his old dress, walking around on stork legs, he'd probably have a good laugh at her. She hadn't even gotten the hair right – Yaz had tried working on it all afternoon, but her hair was stubborn and strands of blonde always fell right back into her face, no matter with how many clips she tried to strengthen the up-do with.</p><p>The Doctor sighed, stroking over a crease in the fabric. She didn't have the elegance and posture he always seemed to be naturally graced with – As long as she could remember, she was sporty, dorky Doctor, running around like an idiot and she was happy with it. Would be happy with it, if she didn't look so utterly <em>wrong</em> in this utterly gorgeous dress.</p><p>Well, it was just one night, wasn't it? One night, in a dress that didn't quite fit, and the Master not there to laugh, luckily. Plus, the kids really wanted to go.</p><p>“Here goes...” she muttered at the image in the mirror and the image muttered back, its determination buried behind a wall of worry.</p><p> </p><p>Yaz looked beautiful, as if she was born to wear nothing but ball gowns. She was skipping effortlessly in her high heels, excited as they walked through the city of glass, the moon light shimmering all around them, caught in endless reflections.</p><p>Her shoulders were free in the pretty light-blue dress she was wearing and she wasn't even shivering, despite the cold – Thought, to be fair, neither was the Doctor. The constant battle for oxygen an excellent way to get the metabolism going.</p><p>Ryan and Graham – Allowed to wear suits, the lucky bastards – were watching their young friend with amusement, as she danced over the glassy streets, her shoes leaving soft clunking noises on the pavement.</p><p>The Doctor had been that excited, once, when she was invited to her first Gallifreyan Ball – Before she had learned that it was nothing more than merely the most powerful of Time Lords gathering in a crowded room with Gallifreyan Wine, having talks to expand their power.</p><p>But that had been because Koschei had asked her out – well, told her he'd pick her up at seven and expect her to be ready, really – and she had been dancing on clouds the whole day before that, couldn't have imagined anything better than spending that evening with him.</p><p>And now.... well. She looked down at her with a little, twisted grin. He was still with her, in a way. Holding her, squeezing her tight, torturing her, just how he'd like it.</p><p> </p><p>The music was a bore of classical tunes played badly, the people were snobby and stuck up, the punch too bitter and the King had dropped them as soon as he had finished his performant greeting to rush to another group more civilised than them.</p><p>Still, she would probably hate it less, if only she could <em>sit</em>. The Doctor's feet were aching and she was out of herself with boredom and nothing else to focus on but her pain, while Yaz was busy dancing with Ryan and Graham in turns, already drawing many men's attention towards her (and some ladies, the Doctor noticed), and the Doctor was standing awkwardly and abandoned at the side, hoping not to seem too desperate for a dance partner.</p><p>The torment in her eyes seemed to effectively deflect any idea at advancing her, at least.</p><p>Well.</p><p>Almost any.</p><p>“That's a lovely dress,” said a smooth, silky voice behind her and she felt hot breath on her cheek, as the speaker had stretched his neck and gently rested his chin on her shoulder.</p><p>The Doctor tensed, then whirled around, hoping he'd crash right down from the quick movement, but the Master caught himself quickly, grinning at her as he stood straight up immediately, fixing his black tie. He looked a bit stupid, in his purple-black suit. A bit stupid and a little bit handsome.</p><p>“What are you doing here?” she asked, trying to sound sharp rather than relieved to see him, she really did.</p><p>His grin grew into that unnerving, slightly twisted grin he did nowadays, but it seemed more cheeky than malicious today.</p><p>“Got invited,” he shrugged. “Since I'm the King's new personal advisor.”</p><p>“No, you're not!” she called out immediately and the Master winked at her. “You are! But...”</p><p>“Got you to thank for it, really,” he cackled. “After you stopped him from being poisoned, he seemed quite desperate to find an advisor with... a more healthy judgement.”</p><p>“And he turned to you?” the Doctor asked, disbelief in her voice. “Incredible!”</p><p>She really would have to have a good, long talk with poor Manny and his poor judge of character.</p><p>A laugh spread on her face against her will. Not a laughing matter, she reminded herself. Dangerous.</p><p>“Planning to take over, are you?” she asked in a conversational tone.</p><p>“I was,” he replied with a grimace. “But I underestimated how painfully boring this planet is. Looks pretty enough, but.... Eh. Might not be worth it. Probably just gonna take off.”</p><p>The Doctor frowned.</p><p>“And I'm supposed to believe that, yeah?”</p><p>He raised his eyebrows.</p><p>“Nice try, Doctor, but I don't feel like talking about myself <em>at all </em>right now. I'd rather talk about that beautiful dress you're wearing.”</p><p>The Doctor rolled her eyes, feeling a little desperate now.</p><p>“Okay fine. I borrowed your old dress. I needed <em>something</em> to wear! And it was there. Happy now?”</p><p>The Master snorted, cackling a bit more than was appropriate, ignoring the looks of the people around them.</p><p>“I'm about to be,” he replied earnestly. “How's breathing going?”</p><p>“Horrendously, thank you,” the Doctor replied with a nose crunch.</p><p>The Master snorted again.</p><p>“Well, yeah, you're a bit bigger than I was, it would make it a bit tight.” He regarded her with that little smirk of his that told her he was coming up with a horrible idea. “Come on, let's dance.”</p><p>“Absolutely not,” she replied, but he took her hand and dragged her onto the dance floor.</p><p>“Everyone's already looking,” he sang. “What about that beautiful, purple couple?, they're saying. Why aren't people looking so meant to be together dancing. Can't you hear it?”</p><p>He put a hand to his ear, pretending to listen out to something and the Doctor fought back a chuckle for the sake of a tortured glare, as she let herself be pulled behind him.</p><p>“I can't dance in this thing,” she whined. “I don't know how you did it.”</p><p>“You can't dance with or without it,” the Master gave back, grinning. “It'll be fine. I'll help you. All you have to do is sway a little.”</p><p>He laid an arm onto her waist, guiding her gently to the tact of the music. It really wasn't too bad – So if he wasn't doing it to torture her at all, to whisper cruelties into her ear while holding her close as she struggled to breathe....</p><p>“Bored, are you?” she asked, feeling her cheek return to her slowly.</p><p>The Master shrugged.</p><p>“Honestly, I took pity on you. You look like you really need to forget about the pain you're in.”</p><p>“Is that the secret?” she giggled. “What you did? Causing so much trouble, you forget you're suffering?”</p><p>The Master's face got incredibly serious for a second and with a sinking feeling, the Doctor thought she might have hit the mark a bit <em>too well</em>.</p><p>“It was,” he replied, tone short. “Until it stopped working.”</p><p>The Doctor thought about replying something deep. Thought about asking him to talk about. Thought about taking some steps to reconciliation, to open communication, she really thought. But she was bad at it, this time around, at facing serious, important conversations.</p><p>And he had always been bad at it.</p><p>So when she looked him in the eyes, she instead hoped he could read it all in her eyes as she gave him her most devious smile.</p><p>“How about we get drunk, hide in the bushes of the palace's garden and you alleviate me from my pain?”</p><p>His grin returned as swiftly as it had left, his eyebrows wiggled.</p><p>“Sounds like a plan to me.”</p><p> </p><p>They giggled as they sneaked through the crowd, hand in hand, to steal one of the king's champagne bottles. Yaz was dancing in the crowd with Ryan, not sparing her a glance, but she met Graham's eyes for a second.</p><p>His eyes widened once as he saw the Master and her hand in his, then understanding spread on his face, along with a trace of tiredness. It was like school all over again, really, when Borusa had pretended not to see them because he had no energy left to take them on.</p><p> </p><p>With a thud, she landed on the soft grass and the Master was already over her, kissing her neck, his lips warm and his beard tickling pleasantly. She grind against him, silently begging him to free her from the corset and the Master chuckled.</p><p>“You look bloody gorgeous in my dress, do you know that?” he asked, voice husky and rough.</p><p>I didn't, she thought. I was sure I looked ridiculous.</p><p>Screw the psychic connection they had, screw it coming back during their physical contact, screw the Master hearing her thoughts and sending a wave of pleasure through the link, as he slowly undressed her.</p><p>“You don't,” he said honestly. “I like that you're wearing it.”</p><p>She could feel as much, in his own mind. Could feel the possessive part of his mind purring contently. Stupid, silly Master, she thought fondly.</p><p>Stupid, silly, Doctor, he thought back, his hand quickly and expertly going over the ties that held her corset together and with a gasp, the Doctor could finally take in the cool night air, could breathe freely again.</p><p>“Still beautiful,” he assured her without her asking and started kissing her breasts with passion.</p><p>She laughed, amazed at how easy that little sound came now, and ran her fingers through his hair, pressing her against him. With a growl, he pushed in. She wasn't sure when he had undressed, when she had become so wet, when sweat had started to spread all over their bodies, all she knew was him. Inside her, around her, in her mind and it was all she needed.</p><p>All he needed, from what she could gather through their connection, to soothe the pain, to forget, just for day.</p><p>She smiled.</p><p>Guess she was the trouble he was doing today.</p><p> </p><p>The Master was still contently spread out in the grass, apparently not in the least afraid to be seen naked in the pale moonlight.</p><p>She couldn't quite blame him – He was quite the sight. She had to shake her head, shake herself out of staring at him a second too long, before she got up behind him and pulled his shirt out of the staple of clothes they had shed.</p><p>“Thanks for this,” she grinned, giving him a quick kiss on the forehead. “I'll leave you your dress.”</p><p>Hazily, he blinked up at her, eyes widening as he saw her in his shirt. He opened his mouth to say something, then apparently thought better of it and shrugged.</p><p>“Suits you just as well,” he smiled, apparently not bothered.</p><p>It still smelled like him, like Missy's dress had, but still different.</p><p>Maybe purple would just always smell like the Master now.</p>
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<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Scarf</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Fourth Doctor/Crispy, Fourth Doctor/Ainley implied ;<br/>humour<br/>The Master is offended. The Doctor is unaware.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I'm rocking this Doctober thing!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Offended.</p><p>Appalled.</p><p>Betrayed.</p><p>Those were just some of the words that described the Master's feelings at the latest... series of occurrences in the Doctor's TARDIS.</p><p>Now, spying on the man wasn't something the Master actually indulged in a lot, no matter the popular belief – He was a busy man.</p><p>But the amount of times he opened his camera feed and saw one of the Doctor's new pets wear his scarf, had actually beginning to get at him.</p><p>First, it was that girl, Sarah Jane or how he called her, wrapped up in the ridiculousness that was the colourful, excessively long scarf that was the Doctor's – While he was still wearing the other side. They were pressed together, leaning over the console and bickering and laughing – It was honestly disgusting to watch. Nearly pathetic.</p><p>The Master had to immediately turn off his screen and take a few rounds around his pool, where he could then pretend the fluid caught in his burnt eyelashes was just evaporated chlorine water.</p><p>He didn't touch his cameras in the Doctor's TARDIS for a few years or so, after that. There was only so much a simple man could take.</p><p>When he did it again, he did it after making sure that Miss Smith had left the ship for good. And oh, had he made sure of that.</p><p><span><span>Somehow, seeing </span></span><span>Romanadvoratrelundar</span> <span>wear the damned thing was even worse. She wasn't a fling, wasn't a human fruit fly, gone with the wind in a few years. She was a Time Lord, one of great intellect even, almost matching theirs, one of talent and beauty and he stared at her with hate on his scarred face, as she stepped out of the changing room, wearing the Doctor's scarf and hat and he did nothing but gently caress her head.</span></p><p>“Well, why don't you marry her?” he spit towards the screen, then quickly shut it off, sitting down on a chair and sulking for the rest of the day – He had decided he was over pretending that he wasn't actually hurting over the Doctor's usual insensitivity.</p><p>Really! As if his oldest friend and enemy couldn't predict him watching him give the scarf away to absolutely everyone but him.</p><p>The Master knew for a fact that the Doctor knew of at least three of the cameras in his TARDIS that he had since ignored, because he couldn't be bothered! As usual, he simply couldn't be bothered!</p><p>
  <span>The biggest humiliation, however, occurred not even long after, when the Doctor was caught in a chess game with his pet. No, not </span>
  <span>
    <span>Romanadvoratrelundar and no new human either, worse, much worse.</span>
  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>
    <span>His </span>
  </span>
  <span>
    <em>
      <span>actual</span>
    </em>
  </span>
  <span>
    <span> pet.</span>
  </span>
</p><p>There he sat, the bloody tin dog, on the ground before the Doctor, his scarf draped around his metallic neck. He even had the audacity to sound smug about it.</p><p>With a scream of rage, the Master tore his monitor off the console, threw it to the ground and started stomping on it. A disgrace! An utter humiliation!</p><p>Oh, he was going to pay!</p><p> </p><p>The Master's plan took long, far longer than his usual long games. By the time he was ready, Romanadvoratrelundar was long gone and so was the cursed dog – Which was a shame, he had been rather excited about stomping it to the ground.</p><p>But here he was, revived, in a new, gorgeous body, dressed all in velvet, ready to take on the Doctor.</p><p>Subtly, so subtly, he parked his TARDIS next to his – on Earth, always Earth, this man was unbelievable - , leaned against the trunk on the tree he had disguised it as and waited.</p><p>Years of preparation and genius had flowed into this plan and now, finally, it was coming to fruition. The Master felt giddy with enthusiasm as the Doctor finally stumbled back to his TARDIS, saw him, frowned and ushered his pets inside the ship, blocking their view while placing himself between them.</p><p>At least none of them were wearing his scarf this time. There it was, the object of his desires, wrapped loosely around the Doctor's neck and almost touching the ground, as per usual.</p><p>The Doctor gently shut the door behind his pets, muttered something about being back in a minute and whirled around towards him. How he didn't fall over his own feet? - The Master couldn't tell.</p><p>“What are you doing here, Master?”</p><p>Ah. Wonderful. Everything was going exactly as planned – He pushed himself off the tree and sauntered towards the Doctor with an unmistakeable smirk on his face.</p><p>“My dear Doctor... Why, I'm here to take what's mine.”</p><p>The Doctor put on one of his very uncomfortably, toothy grins.</p><p>“Ah yes? And what's that? Because I know for a fact it's not me.”</p><p>The Master looked up at him with a mad gleam in his eyes, then grabbed the scarf as fast as he could and <em>pulled</em>.</p><p>“Hey,” the Doctor called, as he started turning on the spot from the force of it, as the scarf slowly rolled off his shoulders. “What are you...”</p><p>The Master, chuckling like a maniac, grabbed the scarf in his arms, folded into a huge ball, pressed it to his chest and <em>ran</em>.</p><p> </p><p>Stunned – and slightly dizzy – the Doctor looked after him as he entered the tree and dematerialised in high speed.</p><p>“Well...” he muttered under his breath after the Master's breath had disappeared. “That's just rude.”</p><p>Grumpily, the Doctor shut himself into his wardrobe and dug through the masses of collected clothes he had kept over the years, until he found a similar lengthy scarf. It didn't have quite as many pretty colours, but this combination of red would do, for now. He managed to find another outfit it worked even better with and sighed.</p><p>He hated having to rebrand.</p><p>Next regeneration, he'd make sure to pick an outfit the Master wouldn't want to steal parts of.</p><p> </p><p>The Master sat on his chair like a throne, pretending not to cuddle the scarf he had wrapped around himself.</p><p>He so loved winning.</p><p>It took him merely a few minutes to notice that the wool was leaving a fuzzy film on his velvet that he couldn't simply brush off. His eyes narrowed as he jumped off.</p><p>“You have bested me yet again, Doctor!” he yelled into his empty TARDIS, fist raised, then flinching as he saw the red and beige lints spread on his velvet clad arm. “But you just wait! I shall take my revenge!”</p><p> </p><p>Next time he met the Doctor, maybe he had pushed for his revenge a little too hard. Quite literally, at that.</p><p>To the Master's intense relief, however, the next item he craved to steal from the Doctor, wouldn't leave any traces on his beloved velvet suits. And it wouldn't be given out to his pets, either.</p><p>Time to make a plan to steal celery.</p>
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<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Robot</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Oh God, the ship tags. Here goes:</p><p>Doctor/Shalka!Master<br/>Tenth Doctor/Dhawan!Master (Or O, more like)<br/>Thirteenth Doctor/Dhawan!Master</p><p>The tenth Doctor found himself a new pretty boy to show off to and the Master finds himself. In the Doctor's lab. Inactive. Until the Doctor turns his back on them for a minute, that is.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I've decided I failed Doctober, but I also decided it doesn't matter, because I'll just keep on using the prompt list anyway. I'm a rebel like that.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Dating, the Doctor had soon discovered, was a wonderful, elaborate way of showing off.<br/><br/>And O was so wonderful to show off to.</p><p> </p><p>“Woah,” O whispered, eyes wide as he looked around the Doctor's TARDIS. “Wow. So this is where you live?”</p><p>The Doctor grinned goofily while he very intentionally casual leaned against the railing, pride audible in his voice as he spoke.</p><p>“Yup. That's my TARDIS. All alien, just how you like it.”</p><p>O turned back to him and the Doctor enjoyed the look of pure fascination in those expressive, warm eyes. O clearly was a man who was open to the wonders and marvels of the universe and the Doctor had found himself enthralled by him and his open appreciation quickly.</p><p>“So,” O asked with a wide grin that was all teeth and just plain adorable, “are you giving me a tour, or what?”</p><p>The Doctor jumped to his feet, one hand disappearing into a pocket of his pinstripe suit, while the other gestured towards the aisle leading deeper into his beloved TARDIS.</p><p>“After you,” he grinned and for a second, the two men just stood there, looking at each other in childlike wonder, each marvelling in the beauty and mystery of the other, before O broke the moment and turned around to start going.</p><p>“Can I just...” he asked tentatively, as they reached the first door.</p><p>The Doctor nodded, pushing it open for him.</p><p>“Go in wherever you like. I don't have any secrets on here. Well. Barely any. Well. A few. Okay, a lot, but they're all very well hidden.”</p><p>Still grinning, O walked into the room and found...</p><p>“A swimming pool.”</p><p>Only this wonderful, brilliant human could manage to sound this disappointed over discovering a swimming pool in a police phone box.</p><p>The Doctor felt a mix of pride for the quality of his new friend's tastes and the need to impress his audience.</p><p>“What did you expect?” he asked. “My laboratory full of all things alien?”</p><p>O looked up beneath long lashes, eyes all puppy-like now, as a hopeful expression took over his face.</p><p>“Do you have one?”</p><p>Smiling sheepishly, the Doctor pointed back into the corridor.</p><p>“I do. Third down on the right. Or was it fourth? Somewhere around there...” He waved aimlessly to the right and O, suddenly looking like he was suppressing an eye-roll, started rushing down the aisle.</p><p>There was excitement in his eyes when he finally found the right door and opened it, they were gleaming like the Doctor rarely saw eyes gleam. He followed a little embarrassed at the utter disarray he had left his old lab in.</p><p>Dust had settled over the different tables and cabinets and tools. The Doctor's long abandoned, still unfinished experiment was still positioned on one of the tables, bottled chemicals lying around and broken pieces of devices and glass containers were shattered across the floor.</p><p>“Oh,” O made, standing in the door in obvious shock.</p><p>“Huh,” the Doctor replied, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. “I haven't been in here in a while. Longer than I thought, apparently. Just not much time, you know, between all the adventures and stuff.”</p><p>He walked up to one of the tables, intently staring at an Erlenmeyer flask and snipping his finger against it gently, causing it to vibrate.</p><p>When he looked up again, he noticed that O's gaze had been drawn towards...</p><p>
  <em>Uh-oh.</em>
</p><p>The Doctor swallowed hard.</p><p>“Oh no,” he muttered. “Completely forgot about him... He will be awfully grumpy.”</p><p>“He?” O asked, slight horror audible in his voice. “That's... a person? But he's... completely still.”</p><p>“Must've gone into inactive mode a while ago,” the Doctor said, brows furrowed as he put on his reading specs and leaned forwards.<br/><br/>There he was, his good old Master android, standing stiff, with dust settled in his beard and on his black suit. His dark eyes were boring through him accusatory. Of course, he was inactive, must've been since the Time War, really, when he had accidentally left him down here to take care of bigger issues, so looking reproachful, should, in theory, not be possible for him. This was the Master, however, so the Doctor wasn't too surprised that he had still found a way to do so.</p><p>And, well... The Doctor rubbed the side of his neck. He supposed he deserved it.</p><p>Nervously, he dusted off the android's shoulders, feeling O's wide eyes watching him.</p><p>“Should really recharge him,” the Doctor muttered absent-mindedly. “Bit of Artron Energy and he'll be as good as new.” He frowned. “Maybe dust him off first and update his software? Give him his newest memories?” he muttered, then shook his head, feeling a sting close to his hearts. “Or not. I could manipulate his sense of time a little, maybe. What are the chances he won't notice it's been... centuries since I checked on him?”</p><p>“Probably not very high,” O replied in an oddly toneless voice, still staring at the Master.</p><p>“Yeah, I s'ppose not,” the Doctor sighed. “He'll be so offended. It's hardly my fault, you know? Big bad intergalactic Time War, planet destroyed, centuries of self-pity and guilt – One can forget their significant android other in that chaos.”</p><p>“So you've... had a relationship, did ya? With an actual robot?”</p><p>“Android,” the Doctor replied. “Difference. I uploaded what is basically a safe copy of his mind from the Matrix into him. It was very much the real deal. Just... in an android body. He was a bit careless with his own, organic ones. I needed a friend. He needed to be alive. He came around to it fairly quickly, honestly. It was the best we ever got along since.... since...” The Doctor bit his lip, seeing the flash of pain in O's eyes.</p><p>Yup, he thought. Shutting up now.</p><p>“Well,” O finally said, regaining some bravado. “I wasn't aware I was competing with an android. I would've really stepped my game up.”</p><p>Warmth flooded the Doctor at that admission and he smiled at O with his most brilliant smile.</p><p>“Oh, that old thing,” he waved towards the Master dismissively. “Forget about it.”</p><p>Something dark appeared in O's eyes, then vanished so quickly, the Doctor could almost bring himself to pretend he had just imagined it.</p><p>Almost.</p><p>“Are you alright?” he asked quietly, but O merely smiled, back in perfect composure.</p><p>“But of course,” he replied. “Show me more, Doctor. Your... bedroom, maybe?” He winked suggestively and despite the slight feeling that something was wrong, the Doctor found he didn't really care anymore, couldn't help but grin as he turned back to the corridor and started walking.</p><p>“This way.”</p><p> </p><p>It was several hours later, when O had already left for his late shift and the Doctor lay in bed, feeling calm and sated for once, that he heard something fall and shatter in one of the rooms. With a start, he jerked upright in his bed, listening intently and he was fairly sure he could make out steps, coming down the corridor towards him.</p><p>He rolled out of bed quickly, trying to grab for his screwdriver in the darkness, but before his aimlessly fumbling hands had found it, the door got torn open and light fell in from the corridor.</p><p>In the door frame stood a shadow, which quickly took the form of....</p><p>Yup.</p><p><em>Uh-oh</em> captured it pretty well.</p><p>“Weren't you... inactive?” he asked tentatively, as the Master stared at him, eyes gleaming with mischief and not a little bit of judgement.</p><p>“Well, my dear Doctor, you'll find I'm not anymore.”</p><p>“Ah,” he replied. “Well. Yes. That's... that's very convenient. You see, I was just about... about to...”<br/><br/>“Forget about me yet again, I am sure,” the Master smiled dryly. “But not to worry. It's all taken care of.”</p><p>He threw something towards him and the Doctor caught it on instinct, staring at it in confusion, until his old friend spoke again.</p><p>“You'll understand that I had to disable my stand-by button permanently, I'm sure.”</p><p>The Doctor gave a wry smile.</p><p>“You know, I expected something along the lines of that, yes. Your circuits binding you to the TARDIS...?” he added, on an afterthought and with a stony smile, the Master threw yet another piece towards him.</p><p>He sighed.</p><p>“Yes, I thought so. So... Leaving, are you?”</p><p>“It seems to me that my constant presence has made you a bit... careless. Almost, as if you didn't appreciate me while I was around. I think I'll work on rectifying that.”</p><p>“What a wonderful accusatory way to say 'yes',” the Doctor sighed. “Need a ride?”</p><p>“Got it covered,” the Master smiled, raising an arm with a (clearly upgraded) Vortex Manipulator on his wrist.</p><p>“I'm not even going to ask where you got that from.”</p><p>“That might be for the best. Now, dearest...-”</p><p>He stepped forwards, raising the Doctor's chin with a finger, before giving him a soft kiss on the forehead. “We say goodbye. I assure you, we'll meet again.”</p><p>“What a promise...” the Doctor muttered, thinking about the Master, his Master, the real Master, dying in his arms out of pure spite. “I think I lost the real you for good, you know? I... I know I messed up, but if you wanted... if you could...”</p><p>But the Master merely smiled.</p><p>“Lost me for good? Doctor, please. You know I could never, possibly, do anything for <em>good</em>. I wouldn't worry that pretty head of yours.”</p><p>He was gone with a single push of a button, doubtlessly to cause havoc, leaving the Doctor in his bedroom, feeling more alone than ever. And a tiny bit confused.</p><p> </p><p>It was many, many years later that the Doctor realised who she had let into her TARDIS and how exactly her little android friend had gotten his freedom back.</p><p>“You know,” she asked the Master from the tree she was currently tied to. “If he could always disable the circuit binding him to my TARDIS, I wonder why he didn't.”</p><p>He turned towards her, raising an eyebrow, a grin appearing on the handsome face.</p><p>“You still haven't gotten it, have you? After all this time. You gave him my mind and then left him to collect dust in that lab of yours, when he's done nothing but be all you ever wanted from us. Shame, really, that you can never seem to learn.”</p><p>“Learn what?” she asked, as he leaned forwards, face close to hers. If he only came a little bit closer, she could steal his high precision laser, currently stashed in his pocket, and escape...</p><p>Luckily, the Master had never thought much of the concept of personal space and stepped directly into hers – The Doctor's fingers wrapped around the little laser and she held back a triumphant laugh.</p><p>“He stayed, Doctor, because had your <em>attention</em>. When you started giving it to pretty wide-eyed boys instead, that's when you lost him.”</p><p>“Gained me a pretty, wide-eyed boy though, didn't it?” she asked with a vicious grin, trying to keep him distracted from the laser in her hands.</p><p>“And look what he brought you,” he replied, eyes narrowed in anger.</p><p>The Doctor attempted a shrug, then remembered she couldn't move her shoulders.</p><p>“Pretty good sex?”</p><p>The Master snorted.</p><p>“Shut up. You chose a human fling over me! Like you always do!”</p><p>“I chose a human fling over the vague concept of having you in form of an android that's not quite you, but will every day painfully remind me that it's nothing but a stand-in for all the things we've wanted and lost, while I believed you dead. I'm good at denial but even I have to stop sometimes, Master. Even I have to let my own demons go, before they consume me. When have you stopped letting go, huh? Look at you. You're completely eaten up.”</p><p>He stared at her, teeth gnarling, face contorted to a hateful grimace, but she could see some of the tension slowly draining and his lips even twitched to the attempt of a smile once or twice.</p><p>The Doctor had painfully cramped a hand backwards, trying to cut the ropes from behind so he wouldn't see, but the Master merely sighed and nodded towards her hand.</p><p>“Could you hurry that up? I was planning on taking you against that tree when it was still night.”</p><p>The Doctor grinned.</p><p>“Done any minute now.”</p>
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